Composite layup tools for aircraft fuselage barrels, methods of assembling the layup tools, and aircraft fuselage barrel sections formed utilizing the layup tools

ABSTRACT

Composite layup tools for aircraft fuselage barrels, methods of assembling the layup tools, and aircraft fuselage barrels formed utilizing the layup tools are disclosed herein. A method of assembling the layup tools includes aligning an adaptor mating surface of a splice adaptor with a mandrel mating surface of a layup mandrel and initially attaching the splice adaptor to the layup mandrel at an initial attachment point. The methods further include attaching a lower lobe of the splice adaptor to a lower lobe of the layup mandrel. A method of forming a fuselage barrel assembly includes providing two fuselage barrel sections and a splice ring, aligning the two fuselage barrel sections, locating the splice ring within the two fuselage barrel sections, and attaching both fuselage barrel sections to the splice ring. The systems include a layup tool that is formed using the methods.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of and claims priority under 35 USC 120to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/459,203, entitled “COMPOSITELAYUP TOOLS FOR AIRCRAFT FUSELAGE BARRELS, METHODS OF ASSEMBLING THELAYUP TOOLS, AND AIRCRAFT FUSELAGE BARREL SECTIONS FORMED UTILIZING THELAYUP TOOLS,” filed on Aug. 13, 2014, the complete disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft assembly and moreparticularly to composite layup tools for aircraft fuselage barrels andto methods of assembling the layup tools.

BACKGROUND

Fuselage barrel assemblies for aircraft are large, complex structuresthat may be assembled from a plurality of fuselage barrel sections. Eachof the fuselage barrel sections may have a characteristiccross-sectional dimension of several meters and an even larger length.For example, the characteristic cross-sectional dimension of fuselagebarrel sections of certain larger aircraft may be nearly six meters andthe length may be nearly 10 meters, or more.

In addition, current state-of-the-art aircraft generally are compositestructures that may be formed from a plurality of different components,including fiber-reinforced composite materials and metals. In onespecific example, a composite skin of the fuselage barrel section may beformed from a fiber-reinforced composite material. The fiber-reinforcedcomposite material may be laid up on an inner mold line layup tool andcured to form the composite skin. Subsequently, the layup tool may beseparated from the composite skin and a frame assembly may be locatedwithin an inner volume that is defined by the composite skin andattached to the composite skin to form a fuselage barrel section.

A plurality of fuselage barrel sections may be attached to one anotherto form the fuselage barrel assembly. This assembly process may includelocating a splice ring between adjacent fuselage barrel sections andattaching the adjacent fuselage barrel sections to the splice ring. Theframe assemblies of the adjacent fuselage barrel sections also may beattached to one another. Often, it may be difficult to accurately alignthe frame assemblies of the adjacent fuselage barrel sections, andportions of the fuselage barrel sections often must be reworked topermit a required degree of alignment between the frame assemblies. Inaddition, it also may be difficult to accurately match a circumferentiallength of the adjacent fuselage barrel sections, and shims often may belocated between one, or both, of the composite skins and the splicering. The rework and the shimming both may decrease a production rate ofthe fuselage barrel assembly and/or increase a cost of the fuselagebarrel assembly. Thus, there exists a need for improved composite layuptools for aircraft fuselage barrels and for improved methods ofassembling the layup tools.

SUMMARY

Composite layup tools for aircraft fuselage barrels, methods ofassembling the layup tools, and aircraft fuselage barrels formedutilizing the layup tools are disclosed herein. A method of assemblingthe layup tools includes aligning an adaptor mating surface of a spliceadaptor with a mandrel mating surface of a layup mandrel and initiallyattaching the splice adaptor to the layup mandrel at an initialattachment point. The methods further include attaching a lower lobe ofthe splice adaptor to a lower lobe of the layup mandrel. The systemsinclude a layup tool that is formed using the methods of assembling thelayup tool.

The aligning may include rotationally aligning a bottom center line(BCL) reference direction of the splice adaptor and a BCL referencedirection of the splice ring with a BCL reference direction of the layuptool. The aligning also may include radially aligning an outer surfaceof the splice adaptor with an outer surface of the layup tool alongand/or proximate the BCL reference direction of the layup tool.

The attaching the lower lobe of the splice adaptor to the lower lobe ofthe layup mandrel may include radially aligning the outer surface of thesplice adaptor with the outer surface of the layup mandrel proximal eachof a plurality of lower lobe attachment points. The attaching the lowerlobe further may include attaching the splice adaptor to the layupmandrel at each of the plurality of lower lobe attachment points toretain radial alignment between the outer surface of the splice adaptorand the outer surface of the layup tool.

A method of forming a fuselage barrel assembly includes providing twofuselage barrel sections and a splice ring. The method further includesaligning the two fuselage barrel sections, locating the splice ringwithin the two fuselage barrel sections, and attaching both fuselagebarrel sections to the splice ring.

The providing the first fuselage barrel section may include providing afirst fuselage barrel section that includes a first joint portion. Thefirst joint portion includes a first interior joint surface that has afirst inner circumferential length. The providing the second fuselagebarrel section may include providing a second fuselage barrel sectionthat includes a second joint portion. The second joint portion may havea second interior joint surface that has a second inner circumferentiallength. The providing the splice ring may include providing a splicering that has a splice ring outer surface that has a splice ring outercircumferential length.

The aligning may include operatively aligning the first fuselage barrelsection and the second fuselage barrel section such that the first jointportion faces toward the second joint portion. The locating may includelocating the splice ring within both the first joint portion and thesecond joint portion.

The attaching may include operatively attaching the first fuselagebarrel section and the second fuselage barrel section to the splicering. The operatively attaching may include initially attaching at apair of initial attachment points that are located along and/orproximate a BCL reference direction of the fuselage barrel assembly.Subsequently, the operatively attaching also may include attaching at aplurality of pairs of subsequent attachment points in a symmetricalfashion about the initial attachment point.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an example of an aircraft thatincludes a fuselage barrel assembly that may be assembled utilizing thesystems and methods according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart depicting methods, according to the presentdisclosure, of forming a fuselage barrel assembly.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of two fuselage barrel sections and asplice ring prior to assembly.

FIG. 4 is a schematic end view of the fuselage barrel sections of FIG.3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic end view of the splice ring of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of the fuselage barrel sections andsplice ring of FIGS. 3-5 with the fuselage barrel sections aligned andthe splice ring inserted into joint portions of the fuselage barrelsections.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG.6.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view of the fuselage barrel sections and thesplice ring of FIGS. 3-7 with the two fuselage barrel sectionsoperatively attached to the splice ring.

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG.8.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart depicting methods, according to the presentdisclosure, of assembling a fuselage barrel section of an aircraft.

FIG. 11 is a schematic front view of a layup tool, according to thepresent disclosure, with a composite skin formed thereon.

FIG. 12 is a schematic front view of the composite skin of FIG. 11 afterremoval from the layup tool.

FIG. 13 is a schematic front view of a fuselage barrel section thatincludes the composite skin of FIGS. 11-12 and a frame assembly.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart depicting methods of assembling a layup toolaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a schematic representation of an inner mold line layupmandrel and a splice adaptor that may be combined to form a layup toolaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a schematic side view illustrating alignment of the layupmandrel and the splice adaptor of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a schematic front view illustrating alignment of the layupmandrel and the splice adaptor of FIGS. 15-16.

FIG. 18 is a schematic side view illustrating an outer surface of anupper lobe of the layup mandrel of FIGS. 15-17 being conformed to anouter surface of an upper lobe of the splice adaptor.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart depicting a method of fabricating a matched pairof splice adaptors according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 20 is a schematic representation of an example of a splice adaptorbody according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 21 is a schematic representation of an example of a matched pair ofsplice adaptors according to the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-21 provide examples of fuselage barrel assemblies 730 that maybe formed utilizing the systems and methods according to the presentdisclosure, of layup tools 340 according to the present disclosure, ofcomponents of layup tools 340, and/or of assembly processes and/ormethods, according to the present disclosure, for assembling layup tools340, components of layup tools 340, fuselage barrel assemblies 730,and/or components of fuselage barrel assemblies 730. Elements that servea similar, or at least substantially similar, purpose are labeled withlike numbers in each of FIGS. 1-21, and these elements may not bediscussed in detail herein with reference to each of FIGS. 1-21.Similarly, all elements may not be labeled in each of FIGS. 1-21, butreference numerals associated therewith may be utilized herein forconsistency. Elements, components, and/or features that are discussedherein with reference to one or more of FIGS. 1-21 may be included inand/or utilized with any of FIGS. 1-21 without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure.

In general, elements that are likely to be included in a given (i.e., aparticular) embodiment are illustrated in solid lines, while elementsthat are optional to a given embodiment are illustrated in dashed lines.However, elements that are shown in solid lines are not essential to allembodiments, and one or more elements shown in solid lines may beomitted from a given embodiment without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an example of an aircraft 700that includes a fuselage barrel assembly 730 that may be assembledutilizing the systems and methods according to the present disclosure.Fuselage barrel assembly 730 includes a plurality of fuselage barrelsections 732 that may be operatively attached to one another, such asvia a plurality of respective splice rings 734, to form fuselage barrelassembly 730.

Fuselage barrel assembly 730 may form a portion of an aircraft 700 thatmay include, be, or be formed from, a structurally reinforced compositestructure 800. As discussed in more detail herein, fuselage barrelsections 732 each may include a respective frame assembly 780 and arespective composite skin 790 that covers the respective frame assemblyand is operatively attached to the frame assembly. As illustrated inFIG. 1, aircraft 700 further may include an airframe 710, a wing 740, ahorizontal stabilizer 750, and/or a vertical stabilizer 760.

Composite skins 790 may cover and/or be an outer surface of any suitableportion of aircraft 700. Aircraft 700 also may include a plurality ofstringers 770 that, together with frame assemblies 780, may support aninner surface composite skin 790. Fuselage barrel assembly 730 maydefine, or have, a longitudinal axis (such as the X-axis in FIG. 1) andtwo transverse axes (such as the Y and Z-axes in FIG. 1).

Composite skin 790 may be formed from and/or include any suitablematerial and/or materials of construction. This may include flexiblematerials and/or materials. As an example, composite skin 790 mayinclude a composite fiber and a resin material. As a more specificexample, composite skin 790 may be formed from a plurality of layers ofa pre-impregnated composite material that includes the composite fiberand the resin material. Examples of the composite fiber include afiberglass fiber, a fiberglass cloth, a carbon fiber, and/or a carboncloth. Examples of the resin material include an epoxy, an adhesive,and/or a polymeric resin.

As discussed in more detail herein, a variety of tools may be utilizedto form, fabricate, and/or construct aircraft 700 and/or componentsthereof. For example, layup tools may be utilized to form, fabricate,and/or construct composite skins 790, with these layup tools controllingand/or regulating a shape, a conformation, and/or dimensions ofcomposite skins 790. The shape, conformation, and/or dimensions ofcomposite skin 790 may have a direct impact on an ease of assembly, costof assembly, and/or process utilized during assembly of fuselage barrelsections 732 to form fuselage barrel assembly 730, and the systems andmethods disclosed herein may permit improved, cheaper, and/or morestreamlined assembly processes to be utilized.

For example, adjacent fuselage barrel sections that may be formedutilizing conventional systems and/or methods may exhibit significantvariation in a circumferential length of respective joint portions ofthe adjacent fuselage barrel sections. This variation in circumferentiallength may generate annular gaps between splice rings 734 and compositeskins 790, and these annular gaps often must be filled, or spanned, witha plurality of shims. This shimming process may be expensive,time-consuming, inexact, and/or prone to rework and increases acomplexity of the overall manufacturing process. However, the systemsand methods disclosed herein may be configured to significantlydecrease, or even eliminate, the variation in circumferential length,thereby decreasing, or even eliminating, the annular gaps and/or theneed for the shimming process.

As another example, it often may be difficult to accurately alignadjacent frame assemblies 780 of adjacent fuselage barrel sections 732when assembling fuselage barrel assembly 730 utilizing conventionalsystems and/or methods. This difficulty in aligning the adjacent frameassemblies may be caused by a variety of factors, including a size offuselage barrel sections 732, an inherent flexibility of fuselage barrelsections 732 and/or components thereof, and/or a difficulty in providingexact reference points, or relative orientations, for attachment ofindividual frame assemblies 780 to corresponding composite skins 790during assembly of individual fuselage barrel sections 732. The systemsand methods disclosed herein may be configured to significantly improvealignment of the adjacent frame assemblies.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart depicting methods 100, according to the presentdisclosure, of forming a fuselage barrel assembly of an aircraft (suchas fuselage barrel assembly 730 of FIG. 1), while FIGS. 3-9 areschematic illustrations of a process flow that may be utilized to form afuselage barrel assembly 730 and/or that may be performed utilizing themethod of FIG. 2. More specifically, FIG. 3 is a schematic side view oftwo fuselage barrel sections 732 and a splice ring 734 prior toassembly. FIG. 4 is a schematic end view of fuselage barrel sections732. FIG. 5 is a schematic end view of splice ring 734. FIG. 6 is aschematic side view of fuselage barrel sections 732 and splice ring 734of FIGS. 3-5 with the fuselage barrel sections aligned and the splicering inserted into joint portions 152 and 162 of the fuselage barrelsections. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of fuselage barrelsection 732 and splice ring 734 taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6. FIG. 8is a schematic side view of the fuselage barrel sections 732 and splicering 734 of FIGS. 3-7 with the two fuselage barrel sections operativelyattached to the splice ring. FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional viewof fuselage barrel section 732 and splice ring 734 taken along line 9-9of FIG. 8.

Returning to FIG. 2, methods 100 may include providing a first fuselagebarrel section at 105, providing a second fuselage barrel section at110, and/or providing a splice ring at 115. Methods 100 further mayinclude operatively aligning the first and second fuselage barrelsections at 120, locating the splice ring at 125, and/or operativelyattaching the first and second fuselage barrel sections to the splicering at 130.

Providing the first fuselage barrel section at 105 may include providingany suitable first fuselage barrel section in any suitable manner. Forexample, the providing at 105 may include providing a first fuselagebarrel section 150, as illustrated in FIGS. 3-4 and 6-8. As anotherexample, the providing at 105 may include performing methods 200, whichare discussed in more detail herein. The first fuselage barrel sectionmay include a first joint portion, as illustrated in FIGS. 3, 6, and 8at 152. The first joint portion may have a first interior joint surface,as illustrated in FIGS. 3-4 at 154, which may be formed by a compositeskin 790 of the first fuselage barrel section. The first interior jointsurface may have, or define, a first inner circumferential length, asillustrated in FIG. 4 at 156.

Providing the second fuselage barrel section at 110 may includeproviding any suitable second fuselage barrel section in any suitablemanner. For example, the providing at 110 may include providing a secondfuselage barrel section 160, as illustrated in FIGS. 3-4, 6, and 8. Asanother example, the providing at 110 may include performing methods200, which are discussed in more detail herein. The second fuselagebarrel section may include a second joint portion, as illustrated inFIGS. 3, 6, and 8 at 162. The second joint portion may have a secondinterior joint surface, as illustrated in FIGS. 3-4 at 164, which may beformed by a composite skin 790 of the second fuselage barrel section.The second interior joint surface may have, or define, a second innercircumferential length, as illustrated in FIG. 4 at 166.

Providing the splice ring at 115 may include providing any suitablesplice ring in any suitable manner. For example, the providing at 115may include providing splice ring 734 of FIGS. 3 and 5-9. The splicering may have an outer surface, as indicated in FIGS. 3 and 5 at 736.The splice ring outer surface may include, define, or have a splice ringouter circumferential length, as illustrated in FIG. 5 at 738.

As discussed in more detail herein, the systems and methods according tothe present disclosure may include forming fuselage barrel sections 150and 160 and/or splice ring 734 such that first inner circumferentiallength 156, second inner circumferential length 166, and/or splice ringouter circumferential length 738 differ by less than a thresholdcircumferential length difference. As examples, the thresholdcircumferential length difference may be less than 4 millimeters (mm),less than 3.5 mm, less than 3 mm, less than 2.5 mm, less than 2 mm, lessthan 1.5 mm, less than 1 mm, less than 0.5 mm, less than 0.25 mm, orless than 0.1 mm.

Additionally or alternatively, the systems and methods according to thepresent disclosure also may include forming fuselage barrel sections 150and 160 and/or splice ring 734 such that first inner circumferentiallength 156, second inner circumferential length 166, and/or splice ringouter circumferential length 738 are within a threshold circumferentiallength range. As examples, the threshold circumferential length rangemay be at least 15 meters (m), at least 15.5 m, at least 16 m, at least16.5 m, at least 17 m, at least 17.5 m, or at least 18 m. Additionallyor alternatively, the threshold circumferential length range also may beless than 21 m, less than 20.5 m, less than 20 m, less than 19.5 m, lessthan 19 m, less than 18.5 m, or less than 18 m.

Operatively aligning the first and second fuselage barrel sections at120 may include operatively aligning such that the first joint portionfaces toward the second joint portion. For example, and as illustratedin FIG. 3, the operatively aligning at 120 may include operativelyaligning such that first joint portion 152 of first fuselage barrelsection 150 faces toward and/or is (at least substantially) radiallyand/or axially aligned with second joint portion 162 of second fuselagebarrel section 160.

Locating the splice ring at 125 may include locating the splice ringwithin both the first joint portion and the second joint portion and mayinclude translating the first fuselage barrel section and the secondfuselage barrel section toward one another. For example, and asillustrated in FIG. 6, fuselage barrel sections 150 and 160 may bealigned and splice ring 734 may be inserted into both first jointportion 152 and second joint portion 162.

Operatively attaching the first and second fuselage barrel sections tothe splice ring at 130 may include operatively attaching both the firstfuselage barrel section and the second fuselage barrel section to thesplice ring in any suitable manner. As illustrated in FIG. 7 anddiscussed in more detail herein, the systems and methods according tothe present disclosure may include forming fuselage barrel sections 150and 160 such that there is very little, or even (at least substantially)no, annular gap between fuselage barrel sections 732 and splice ring 734and/or such that first inner circumferential length 156 of firstfuselage barrel section 150 is (at least substantially) equal to secondinner circumferential length 166 of second fuselage barrel section 160,as discussed herein with reference to FIGS. 4-5. Thus the operativelyattaching at 130 may include operatively attaching such that no shimextends between first fuselage barrel section 150 and splice ring 734and/or such that no shim extends between second fuselage barrel section160 and splice ring 734.

This may be facilitated by first inner circumferential length 156 being(at least substantially) equal to second inner circumferential length166. For example, splice ring outer circumferential length 738, which isillustrated in FIG. 5, may be (at least substantially) equal to, orwithin the threshold circumferential length difference of, first innercircumferential length 156 and second inner circumferential length 166,which are illustrated in FIG. 4. As another example, splice ring 734 maybe a split splice ring 734 and/or a multi-piece splice ring 734 that isconfigured to expand and/or contract such that splice ring outercircumferential length 738 is (at least substantially) equal to, orwithin the threshold length difference of, first inner circumferentiallength 156 and second inner circumferential length 166.

As illustrated in FIGS. 8-9, the operatively attaching at 130 mayinclude operatively attaching at a plurality of attachment points 170.This may include extending a fastener 180 through splice ring 734 andeither first fuselage barrel section 150 or second fuselage barrelsection 160 at each attachment point 170.

The operatively attaching at 130 may include operatively attaching in agiven, predetermined, and/or specified attachment sequence. For example,the operatively attaching at 130 may include operatively attaching at apair of initial attachment points 172 and subsequently progressing (atleast substantially) symmetrically about the pair of initial attachmentpoints and circumferentially around fuselage barrel assembly 730 frominitial attachment points 172. The pair of initial attachment points maybe located along, or proximal, a bottom center line (BCL) referencedirection 190 of fuselage barrel assembly 730. One attachment point ineach pair of attachment points 172 may operatively attach first fuselagebarrel section 150 to splice ring 734, while the other attachment pointin each pair of attachment points 172 may operatively attach secondfuselage barrel section 160 to splice ring 734.

As a more specific example, and with continued reference to FIGS. 8-9,the operatively attaching at 130 may include initially attaching atinitial attachment points 172 that are located along, or proximal, BCLreference direction 190 of fuselage barrel assembly 730. Subsequently,the operatively attaching at 130 may include operatively attaching at aplurality of pairs of subsequent attachment points 174. This may includeoperatively attaching at a given pair of subsequent attachment points174 on a given side of initial attachment points 172 and at acorresponding pair of subsequent attachment points 174 on an opposedside of initial attachment points 172 prior to attaching at another pairof subsequent attachment points 174 that is farther from initialattachment points 172 than the given pair of subsequent attachmentpoints 174.

For example, the operatively attaching at 130 may include operativelyattaching at subsequent attachment points 174′ prior to operativelyattaching at subsequent attachment points 174″. Similarly, theoperatively attaching at 130 may include operatively attaching atsubsequent attachment points 174″ prior to operatively attaching atsubsequent attachment points 174′″. In addition, the operativelyattaching at 130 may include operatively attaching at subsequentattachment points 174′″ prior to operatively attaching at subsequentattachment points 174″″. Such an attachment procedure may direct anymismatch among first fuselage barrel section 150, second fuselage barrelsection 160, and splice ring 734 away from BCL reference direction 190.This may improve alignment of portions of frame assemblies that may beproximal a BCL of fuselage barrel assembly 730 and/or that are within alower lobe of fuselage barrel assembly 730, as discussed in more detailherein.

BCL reference direction 190 may be selected and/or determined in anysuitable manner. For example, BCL reference direction 190 may bedefined, or specified, by a vector that is perpendicular to passengerfloor grid 781 and that passes through a midline of the passenger floorgrid, as illustrated in FIG. 13. As another example, BCL referencedirection 190 may point generally from a centroid of fuselage barrelassembly 730 and toward a BCL location 733 of fuselage barrel assembly730, as illustrated in FIG. 9. As yet another example, BCL referencedirection 190 may be a vector, or direction, that points from a centralregion of fuselage barrel assembly 730 and toward an outer surface ofthe fuselage barrel assembly, with the orientation of BCL referencedirection 190 being selected such that the BCL reference directionpoints toward a critical alignment region of fuselage barrel assembly730. As another example, the BCL reference direction may be selectedsuch that a line, or plane, that extends along and/or proximate the BCLreference direction longitudinally bisects fuselage barrel assembly 730and/or a lower lobe 788 thereof, as illustrated in FIG. 13.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart depicting methods 200, according to the presentdisclosure, of assembling a fuselage barrel section of an aircraft,while FIGS. 11-13 are schematic end-view illustrations of a process flowthat may be utilized to form a fuselage barrel section 732 and/or thatmay be performed utilizing method 200 of FIG. 10. More specifically,FIG. 11 is a schematic front view of a layup tool 340, according to thepresent disclosure, with a composite skin 790 formed thereon. FIG. 12 isa schematic front view of composite skin 790 of FIG. 11 after removalfrom layup tool 340. FIG. 13 is a schematic front view of a fuselagebarrel section 732 that includes composite skin 790 of FIGS. 11-12 and aframe assembly 780.

Returning to FIG. 10, methods 200 may include assembling a layup tool at205 and include forming a composite skin on the layup tool at 210 andseparating the composite skin from the layup tool at 215. Methods 200further include locating a frame assembly at 220 and attaching the frameassembly to the composite skin at 225.

Assembling the layup tool at 205 may include assembling, forming, and/orfabricating the layup tool in any suitable manner. For example, theassembling at 205 may include assembling the layup tool utilizingmethods 300, which are discussed in more detail herein.

Forming the composite skin on a layup tool at 210 may include formingany suitable composite skin on any suitable layup tool. For example, theforming at 210 may include forming composite skin 790 on layup tool 340,as illustrated in FIG. 11. As another example, the forming at 210 mayinclude locating a plurality of plies of composite material 792 on anouter surface 342 of layup tool 340. As yet another example, the formingat 210 may include curing the plurality of plies of composite material792 to define, or form, composite skin 790.

Separating the composite skin from the layup tool at 215 may includeseparating in any suitable manner. For example, the separating at 215may include removing the layup tool from an inner volume that is atleast partially defined, or formed, by the composite skin. As a morespecific example, the separating at 215 may include removing layup tool340 from an inner volume 794 that is defined, or formed, by compositeskin 790 of FIG. 11 such that composite skin 790 is spaced apart fromlayup tool 340 and/or such that inner volume 794 no longer containslayup tool 340, as illustrated in FIG. 12.

Locating the frame assembly at 220 may include locating any suitableframe assembly within the inner volume that is defined, or formed, bythe composite skin. For example, and with reference to FIG. 13, thelocating at 220 may include locating frame assembly 780 within innervolume 794 of composite skin 790. The frame assembly may include anysuitable structure and/or structures. For example, and with continuedreference to FIG. 13, frame assembly 780 may include a passenger floorgrid 781, stanchions 782, a cargo floor grid 783, a keel frame 784,lower side frames 785, upper side frames 786, and/or a crown frame 787that may be operatively attached to one another in any suitable manner.

Lower lobe 788 of fuselage barrel section 732 may include a portion offuselage barrel section 732 that includes, is below, and/or is locatedin BCL reference direction 190 from, passenger floor grid 781. Thus,lower lobe 788 may include passenger floor grid 781, stanchions 782,cargo floor grid 783, keel frame 784, and/or lower side frames 785.Similarly, an upper lobe 789 of fuselage barrel section 732 may includea portion of fuselage barrel section 732 that is above, or is located inan opposite direction from BCL reference direction 190 from, passengerfloor grid 781. Thus, upper lobe 789 may include upper side frames 786and/or crown frame 787.

During assembly of adjacent fuselage barrel sections 732 to form afuselage barrel assembly 730, which is discussed in more detail hereinwith reference to FIGS. 2-9, alignment of components of the adjacentfuselage barrel sections 732 that are within corresponding lower lobes788 may be substantially more difficult than alignment of components ofthe adjacent fuselage barrel sections 732 that are within correspondingupper lobes 789. This increased difficulty in alignment may be caused bya variety of factors, including an increased number of components withinlower lobe 788 when compared to upper lobe 789, an increased complexityof lower lobe 788 when compared to upper lobe 789, and/or an increasedrigidity of lower lobe 788 when compared to upper lobe 789.

Thus, and as discussed herein with reference to methods 100 of FIG. 2,the systems and methods according to the present disclosure may beconfigured to initially, or even preferentially, align portions ofadjacent fuselage barrel sections 732 that are within correspondinglower lobes 788. This may include initial, or even preferential,alignment of corresponding BCL locations 733 of the adjacent fuselagebarrel sections 732, initial, or even preferential, alignment ofadjacent cargo floor grids 783 of adjacent fuselage barrel sections 732,and/or initial, or even preferential, alignment of adjacent passengerfloor grids 781 of adjacent fuselage barrel sections 732.

Attaching the frame assembly to the composite skin at 225 may includeoperatively attaching the frame assembly to the composite skin in anysuitable manner. As an example, the attaching at 225 may includeextending a plurality of fasteners through both the composite skin andthe frame assembly to operatively attach the frame assembly to thecomposite skin.

As discussed in more detail herein with reference to FIGS. 10-13, it maybe beneficial to form and/or assemble adjacent fuselage barrel sections732 such that corresponding lower lobes 788 of the adjacent fuselagebarrel sections are initially, or preferentially, aligned with oneanother during assembly of fuselage barrel assemblies 730 that includethe adjacent fuselage barrel sections 732. With this in mind, thesystems, process flows, and methods of FIGS. 14-18 may be designed tofacilitate this alignment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart depicting methods 300 of assembling a layup toolaccording to the present disclosure, while FIGS. 15-18 are schematicillustrations of a process flow that may be utilized to form a layuptool 340 and/or that may be performed utilizing method 300 of FIG. 14.More specifically, FIG. 15 is a schematic representation of an innermold line layup mandrel 350 (which is also referred to herein as a layupmandrel 350) and a splice adaptor 450 that may be combined to form alayup tool 340 according to the present disclosure. FIG. 16 is aschematic side view illustrating alignment of layup mandrel 350 andsplice adaptor 450. FIG. 17 is a schematic front view illustratingalignment of layup mandrel 350 and splice adaptor 450. FIG. 18 is aschematic side view illustrating an outer surface 354 of an upper lobe352 of layup mandrel 350 being conformed to an outer surface 454 of anupper lobe 452 of splice adaptor 450 of FIGS. 15-17.

Returning to FIG. 14, method 300 includes aligning a splice adaptormating surface with a layup mandrel mating surface at 305 and attachingthe splice adaptor to the layup mandrel at an initial attachment pointat 310. Methods 300 further include attaching a lower lobe of the spliceadaptor to a lower lobe of the layup mandrel at 315 and may includeattaching the upper lobe of the splice adaptor to the upper lobe of thelayup mandrel at 320 and/or conforming an outer surface of the layupmandrel to an outer surface of the splice adaptor at 325.

Aligning the splice adaptor mating surface with the layup mandrel matingsurface at 305 may include aligning in any suitable manner. For example,the aligning at 305 may include aligning such that the splice adaptormating surface and the layup mandrel mating surface are facing towardone another. As another example, the aligning at 305 may includealigning such that the splice adaptor mating surface and the layupmandrel mating surface are contacting one another. As yet anotherexample, the aligning at 305 may include aligning such that the spliceadaptor mating surface and the layup mandrel mating surface are in(direct or indirect) mechanical communication with one another.

This is illustrated in FIGS. 15-16. As illustrated in FIG. 15, thealigning at 305 may include aligning such that a layup mandrel matingsurface 356 of layup mandrel 350 is facing toward a splice adaptormating surface 456 of splice adaptor 450. As illustrated in FIG. 16, thealigning at 305 also may include aligning such that layup mandrel matingsurface 356 and splice adaptor mating surface 456 are in contact withone another, are in direct mechanical communication with one another,and/or are in indirect mechanical communication with one another.

As illustrated in FIG. 14 at 306, the aligning at 305 also may includerotationally aligning the splice adaptor and the layup mandrel. Therotationally aligning at 306 may include rotating the splice adaptor andthe layup mandrel relative to one another such that a BCL referencedirection of the layup mandrel is aligned with, at least substantiallyaligned with, parallel to, or at least substantially parallel to, a BCLreference direction of the splice adaptor. This may include rotationallyaligning both the BCL reference direction of the layup mandrel and theBCL reference direction of the splice adaptor with a BCL referencedirection of the layup tool that will be formed therefrom and/or with aBCL reference direction of a fuselage barrel assembly that may be formedutilizing the layup tool. This is illustrated in FIG. 15, where BCLreference direction 358 of layup mandrel 350 is parallel to and/oraligned with BCL reference direction 458 of splice adaptor 450 and bothare (at least substantially) parallel to BCL reference direction 348 oflayup tool 340.

BCL reference direction 358 of layup mandrel 350, BCL referencedirection 458 of splice adaptor 450, and/or BCL reference direction 348of layup tool 340 may be selected and/or defined in any suitable manner.For example, BCL reference direction 358 of layup mandrel 350, BCLreference direction 458 of splice adaptor 450 and/or BCL referencedirection 348 of layup tool 340 may be selected and/or defined such thata composite skin that is formed by layup tool 340 has a shape thatdefines, or forms, a desired BCL reference direction 190 for fuselagebarrel assembly 730 and/or a desired BCL location 733 (as illustrated inFIG. 9).

As illustrated in FIG. 14 at 307, the aligning at 305 also may includeradially aligning the splice adaptor and the layup mandrel. The radiallyaligning at 307 may include radially aligning an outer surface of thesplice adaptor with an outer surface of the layup mandrel along and/orproximate the BCL reference direction of the layup tool. This mayinclude radially aligning such that the outer surface of the spliceadaptor is matched to the outer surface of the layup mandrel and/ormatched to within a threshold offset. Examples of the threshold offsetinclude threshold offsets of less than 0.5 mm, less than 0.4 mm, lessthan 0.3 mm, less than 0.2 mm, less than 0.1 mm, less than 0.05 mm, lessthan 0.01 mm, or (at least substantially) 0 mm.

The radially aligning at 307 may include translating the splice adaptorand the layup mandrel relative to one another such that a portion of theouter surface of the splice adaptor is (at least substantially) alignedand/or collinear with a portion of the outer surface of the layupmandrel. The portion of the outer surface of the layup mandrel may belocated along and/or intersected by the BCL reference direction of thelayup mandrel. Similarly, the portion of the outer surface of the spliceadaptor may be located along and/or intersected by the BCL referencedirection of the splice adaptor.

This is illustrated schematically in FIG. 16, where an outer surface 354of layup mandrel 350 is radially aligned with an outer surface 454 ofsplice adaptor 450 in BCL reference directions 348, 358, and 458. Asalso illustrated in FIG. 16 at 344 the systems and methods according tothe present disclosure may include permitting a mismatch between outersurface 354 and outer surface 454 at locations that are not locatedalong and/or proximate BCL reference directions 348, 358, and 458 duringthe radially aligning at 307.

Attaching the splice adaptor to the layup mandrel at the initialattachment point at 310 may include initially attaching the spliceadaptor to the layup mandrel at an initial attachment point that islocated along, proximal, and/or intersected by the BCL referencedirection of the layup tool. The attaching at 310 may be accomplished inany suitable manner. For example, the attaching at 310 may includeextending an initial fastener through an initial fastener receptacle ofthe splice adaptor and into the layup mandrel. Under these conditions,the initial fastener receptacle may be located along, proximal, and/orintersected by the BCL reference direction of the layup tool. This isillustrated in FIG. 17, wherein an initial fastener 370 extends throughan initial fastener receptacle 372 to operatively attach splice adaptor450 to layup mandrel 350 at an initial attachment point 374.

Attaching the lower lobe of the splice adaptor to the lower lobe of thelayup mandrel at 315 may include operatively attaching to form, ordefine, a lower lobe of the layup tool. The attaching at 315 may includeoperatively attaching in any suitable manner and may be performedsubsequent to the attaching at 310. For example, the attaching at 315may include radially aligning the outer surface of the splice adaptorwith the outer surface of the layup mandrel proximal a plurality oflower lobe attachment points, as indicated in FIG. 14 at 316.Subsequently, the attaching at 315 further may include attaching thesplice adaptor to the layup mandrel at each of the plurality of lowerlobe attachment points to retain the radial alignment between the outersurface of the layup mandrel and the outer surface of the splice adaptorwithin the lower lobe of the layup tool, as indicated in FIG. 14 at 317.This may include extending a plurality of lower lobe fasteners through aplurality of lower lobe fastener receptacles of the splice adaptor andinto the layup mandrel.

The attaching at 315 may include attaching at the plurality of lowerlobe attachment points in any suitable sequence. As an example, theattaching at 315 may include attaching the splice adaptor to the layupmandrel at a given lower lobe attachment point on a given side of theinitial attachment point and at a corresponding lower lobe attachmentpoint on an opposite side of the initial attachment point prior toattaching at another lower lobe attachment point that is farther fromthe initial attachment point than the given lower lobe attachment point.Under these conditions, the given lower lobe attachment point and thecorresponding lower lobe attachment point may be (at leastsubstantially) equidistant from the initial attachment point.

As another example, the attaching at 315 also may include progressing(at least substantially) symmetrically about the initial attachmentpoint. This may include progressing circumferentially around the spliceadaptor from the initial attachment point to attach at the plurality ofsubsequent attachment points.

The attaching at 315 further may include urging a mismatch between theouter surface of the splice adaptor and the outer surface of the layupmandrel toward an upper lobe of the layup tool. Additionally oralternatively, the attaching at 315 may include conforming the outersurface of the splice adaptor to the outer surface of the layup mandrelwithin the lower lobe of the layup tool. This may include deforming thesplice adaptor, such as to match a surface profile of the lower lobe ofthe splice adaptor to a surface profile of the lower lobe of the layupmandrel.

The plurality of lower lobe attachment points may include any suitablenumber of lower lobe attachment points. As examples, the plurality oflower lobe attachment points may include at least 2, at least 4, atleast 6, or at least 8 lower lobe attachment points. Additionally oralternatively, the plurality of lower lobe attachment points may includefewer than 20, fewer than 18, fewer than 16, fewer than 14, fewer than12, or fewer than 10 lower lobe attachment points. As an additionalexample, the plurality of lower lobe attachment points may include aneven number of lower lobe attachment points.

The attaching at 315 is illustrated schematically in FIG. 17. Therein, alower lobe 345 of layup tool 340, which includes a lower lobe 355 oflayup mandrel 350 and a lower lobe 455 of splice adaptor 450, extendsbelow an illustrative dash-dot line 398. Conversely, an upper lobe 346of layup tool 340, which includes upper lobe 352 of layup mandrel 350and upper lobe 452 of splice adaptor 450, extends above dash-dot line398. In practice, lower lobe 345 and upper lobe 346 may include anysuitable portion of layup tool 340. For example, lower lobe 345 mayinclude a portion of layup tool 340 that extends and/or is located belowa passenger floor grid 781 of a fuselage barrel section that may beformed using layup tool 340 and a BCL location 733 of the fuselagebarrel section (as illustrated in FIG. 13). Similarly, upper lobe 346may include a portion of layup tool 340 that extends and/or is locatedabove the passenger floor grid. Under these conditions, dash-dot line398 may be located and/or extend within the passenger floor grid.

As illustrated in FIG. 17, the attaching at 315 may include attaching ata plurality of lower lobe attachment points 384, such as by extending aplurality of lower lobe fasteners 380 through a plurality of lower lobefastener receptacles 382, which may be formed in splice adaptor 450, andinto layup mandrel 350. This may include attaching at a given lower lobeattachment point 384′ on a given side of initial attachment point 374and at a corresponding lower lobe attachment point 384″ on an oppositeside of initial attachment point 374 prior to attaching at anotherattachment point 384′″ that is farther from initial attachment 374 thangiven attachment point 384′. FIG. 17 further illustrates that theattaching at 315 may include urging a mismatch 344 between layup mandrel350 and splice adaptor 450 toward upper lobe 346 of layup tool 340.

Attaching the upper lobe of the splice adaptor to the upper lobe of thelayup mandrel at 320 may include attaching in any suitable manner toform, or define, the upper lobe of the layup tool and may be performedsubsequent to the attaching at 315. The attaching at 320 may includeattaching at a plurality of upper lobe attachment points, such as byextending a plurality of upper lobe fasteners through a plurality ofupper lobe fastener receptacles of the splice adaptor and into the layupmandrel. However, and in contrast to the attaching at 315, the attachingat 320 may include attaching without radially aligning the outer surfaceof the splice adaptor to the outer surface of the layup mandrel withinthe upper lobe of the layup tool.

The attaching at 320 is illustrated schematically in FIG. 17. Asdiscussed, the attaching at 320 may include attaching at a plurality ofupper lobe attachment points 394. This may include extending a pluralityof upper lobe fasteners 390 through a plurality of upper lobe fastenerreceptacles 392 that are formed in splice adaptor 450 and into layupmandrel 350. As further illustrated in FIG. 17, the attaching at 320 mayinclude attaching without radially aligning outer surface 354 of layupmandrel 350 with outer surface 454 of splice adaptor 450, thuspermitting mismatch 344 therebetween.

Methods 300 further may include conforming the outer surface of thelayup mandrel to the outer surface of the splice adaptor within theupper lobe of the layup tool, as illustrated in FIG. 14 at 325. Theconforming at 325 may be accomplished in any suitable manner and may beperformed subsequent to the attaching at 320. For example, theconforming at 325 may include radially aligning the outer surface of thelayup mandrel with the outer surface of the splice adaptor. As anotherexample, the conforming at 325 may include removing a portion of theouter surface of the layup mandrel to conform the outer surface of thelayup mandrel to the outer surface of the splice adaptor. The removingmay be accomplished in any suitable manner, such as by machining,trimming, milling, and/or grinding the layup mandrel.

The conforming at 325 further may include (at least substantially)matching a circumferential length of an outer surface of the layupmandrel to a circumferential length of an outer surface of the spliceadaptor at an interface between the layup mandrel and the spliceadaptor. As discussed in more detail herein with reference to FIGS.19-21, a splice adaptor of a given layup tool that may be utilized tofabricate a given fuselage barrel section may be formed concurrentlywith a splice adaptor of a corresponding layup tool that may be utilizedto fabricate an adjacent fuselage barrel section. This fabricationprocess may be designed such that the circumferential length of thesplice adaptor of the given layup tool is (at least substantially)matched to the circumferential length of the splice adaptor of thecorresponding layup tool. Thus, the conforming at 325 may insure that aninner circumferential length of an interior joint surface of the givenfuselage barrel section is matched to an inner circumferential length ofan interior joint surface of the adjacent fuselage barrel section.

The conforming at 325 is illustrated schematically in FIG. 18. Therein,layup tool 340 includes layup mandrel 350 and splice adaptor 450. Asillustrated in solid lines, mismatch 344 initially may exist betweenouter surface 354 of layup mandrel 350 and outer surface 454 of spliceadaptor 450. However, and as illustrated in dashed lines and/or indash-dot lines, a portion of outer surface 354 of layup mandrel 350 maybe removed during the conforming at 325 to match outer surface 354 oflayup mandrel 350 to outer surface 454 of splice adaptor 450, at leastat an interface 360 between layup mandrel 350 and splice adaptor 450.

The conforming at 325 may include removing any suitable portion of layupmandrel 350. As an illustrative, non-exclusive example, and asillustrated in dash-dot lines in FIG. 18, the conforming at 325 mayinclude creating a chamfered, sloped, or dished edge on outer surface354 near interface 360, with this edge extending along a portion of thelength of layup mandrel 350 and/or with this edge having a target,specified, or determined slope, or grade. Illustrative, non-exclusiveexamples of the slope of the edge includes slopes of less than 100:1,less than 90:1, less than 80:1, less than 70:1, less than 60:1, lessthan 50:1, less than 40:1, less than 30:1, or less than 20:1.Additionally or alternatively, the slope also may be at least 5:1, atleast 10:1, at least 15:1, at least 20:1, at least 30:1, at least 40:1,or at least 50:1. In the above descriptions, the slope is defined asX:Y, with X indicating the distance that material may be removed alongthe length of surface 354 and Y denoting the depth into layup mandrel350 that the material may be removed (i.e., the depth of mismatch 344).

As discussed in more detail herein with reference to FIGS. 2-9, it maybe beneficial to form adjacent fuselage barrel assemblies such thatfirst inner circumferential length 156 of first fuselage barrel section150 is similar to, matched to, at least substantially the same as,and/or within the threshold circumferential length difference of secondinner circumferential length 166 of second fuselage barrel section 160.With this in mind, the systems, process flows, and methods of FIGS.19-21 may be designed to facilitate fabrication of adjacent fuselagebarrel assemblies with similar, or matched, inner circumferentiallengths.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart depicting a method 400 of fabricating a matchedpair of splice adaptors 450 according to the present disclosure, whileFIGS. 20-21 are schematic representations of a process flow that may beperformed utilizing the method of FIG. 19. More specifically, FIG. 20 isa schematic representation of an example of a splice adaptor body 430according to the present disclosure. FIG. 21 is a schematicrepresentation of examples of a matched pair of splice adaptors 450according to the present disclosure. The method of FIG. 19 includesfabricating a splice adaptor body at 405 and separating the spliceadaptor body into a matched pair of splice adaptors at 410.

As discussed in more detail herein, the splice adaptors of FIGS. 20-21may be operatively attached to a respective pair of layup mandrels toform a respective pair of layup tools. Splice adaptors 450 may beconstructed and/or attached to the layup mandrels such that therespective pair of layup tools permits improved assembly of adjacentfuselage barrel sections 732 that include respective composite skins 790(as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3, 6, and 8) that are formed utilizing therespective pair of layup mandrels.

Fabricating the splice adaptor body at 405 may include fabricating anysuitable splice adaptor body that may be utilized to form, or may form,the matched pair of splice adaptors. The splice adaptor body may includea first mating surface and a second mating surface, and the fabricatingat 405 may include fabricating, forming, and/or defining the firstmating surface and the second mating surface. The first mating surfacemay be (at least substantially) opposed to the second mating surface.The splice adaptor body may extend between the first mating surface andthe second mating surface.

The first mating surface may extend within, or define, a first plane.The second mating surface may extend within, or define, a second plane.The first plane may be (a least substantially) parallel to the secondplane. An outer surface of the splice adaptor body may extend betweenthe first mating surface and the second mating surface. The outersurface of the splice adaptor body may be (at least substantially)perpendicular to the first mating surface and to the second matingsurface. The outer surface of the splice adaptor body may be shaped to(at least partially define) a surface contour of a fuselage barrelassembly that may be formed utilizing the first splice adaptor and thesecond splice adaptor.

The splice adaptor body further may include a plurality of fastenerreceptacles. The plurality of fastener receptacles may extend throughthe splice adaptor body and/or between the first mating surface and thesecond mating surface. The plurality of fastener receptacles may extend(at least substantially) perpendicular to the first mating surfaceand/or to the second mating surface within the splice adaptor body. Eachof the plurality of fastener receptacles may include a first opening,which may be formed within the first mating surface, and a secondopening, which may be formed within the second mating surface.

The splice adaptor body may have, or define, a maximum characteristicdimension. The maximum characteristic dimension may be at least 4 m, atleast 4.5 m, at least 5 m, at least 5.5 m, or at least 6 m. Additionallyor alternatively, the maximum characteristic dimension also may be lessthan 8 m, less than 7.5 m, less than 7 m, less than 6.5 m, or less than6 m.

The splice adaptor body may be a unitary structure that may be formedfrom several splice adaptor body segments, with these segments beingoperatively attached to one another, such as via respective flanges, toform the splice adaptor body. This segmented nature of the spliceadaptor body may permit disassembly of a splice adaptor that may beformed therefrom to permit a layup tool that includes the splice adaptorto be separated from a composite skin that may be formed utilizing thelayup tool.

The fabricating at 405 may include fabricating, or machining, the spliceadaptor body from the unitary structure and/or from the several spliceadaptor body segments. The splice adaptor body segments may include, orbe formed from, a metal, an alloy, an iron-nickel alloy, Invar, acomposite material, and/or bismaleimide.

FIG. 20 provides an example of a splice adaptor body 430 according tothe present disclosure. Splice adaptor body 430 includes a first matingsurface 432, a second mating surface 434, and an outer surface 438.Splice adaptor body 430 further includes a plurality of fastenerreceptacles 436. Each fastener receptacle 436 may include a firstopening 440, which may be formed within first mating surface 432, and asecond opening 442, which may be formed within second mating surface434. A maximum characteristic dimension 444 of splice adaptor body 430may be defined, or specified, in a direction that traverses a maximumextent of splice adaptor body 430.

Separating the splice adaptor body into the matched pair of spliceadaptors at 410 may include separating to form a first splice adaptorand a second splice adaptor. The first splice adaptor may include thefirst mating surface and the second splice adaptor may include thesecond mating surface. Subsequent to the separating at 410, the firstsplice adaptor may include, or define, a first separated surface and thesecond splice adaptor may include, or define, a second separatedsurface. The first separated surface may be opposed to the first matingsurface and the second separated surface may be opposed to the secondmating surface. The separating at 410 may include forming and/ordefining the first separated surface and the second separated surface.Additionally or alternatively, the separating at 410 may includeseparating within a plane of separation that is (at least substantially)parallel to the first mating surface and to the second mating surface.

The first outer surface of the first splice adaptor may have a firstcircumferential length at an interface between the first outer surfaceand the first separated surface. The second outer surface of the secondsplice adaptor may have a second circumferential length at an interfacebetween the second outer surface and the second separated surface. Thefirst circumferential length may be (at least substantially) equal tothe second circumferential length.

The first splice adaptor may be shaped and/or sized to regulate a firstinner circumferential length of a first joint portion of a firstcomposite skin of a first fuselage barrel section. Similarly, the secondsplice adaptor may be shaped and/or sized to regulate a second innercircumferential length of a second joint portion of a second compositeskin of a second fuselage barrel section. The first innercircumferential length may correspond to, or even be (at leastsubstantially) equal to, the second inner circumferential length. Thefirst fuselage barrel section and the second fuselage barrel section maybe configured to be adjacent to one another, operatively attached to oneanother, directly operatively attached to one another, and/or abut oneanother in the fuselage barrel assembly.

FIG. 21 provides examples of a matched pair of splice adaptors 450 thatincludes a first splice adaptor 460 and a second splice adaptor 470.First splice adaptor 460 includes a first mating surface 432 and secondsplice adaptor 470 includes a second mating surface 434. In addition,first splice adaptor 460 includes a first separated surface 446 andsecond splice adaptor 470 includes a second separated surface 448. Firstsplice adaptor 460 also has, or defines, a first circumferential length462, which also may be referred to herein as a first outercircumferential length 462. Similarly, second splice adaptor 470 has, ordefines, a second circumferential length 472, which also may be referredto herein as a second outer circumferential length 472. Firstcircumferential length 462 may be a distance around a first outersurface 464 of first splice adaptor 460. Similarly, secondcircumferential length 472 may be a distance around a second outersurface 474 of second splice adaptor 470.

In the systems and methods disclosed herein, splice adaptor bodies 430,splice adaptors 450, layup tools 340, fuselage barrel sections 732,frame assemblies 780, and/or fuselage barrel assemblies 730 areillustrated as being (at least substantially) circular, or cylindrical,and/or as having an (at least substantially) circular, or cylindrical,outer surface or transverse cross-sectional shape. However, it is withinthe scope of the present disclosure that these structures may have, ordefine, any suitable shape. As examples, splice adaptor bodies 430,splice adaptors 450, layup tools 340, fuselage barrel sections 732,frame assemblies 780, and/or fuselage barrel assemblies 730 may have acircular transverse cross-sectional shape, an elliptical transversecross-sectional shape, and/or an open-centered figure-eight transversecross-sectional shape.

As used herein, the phrase, “circumferential length” may refer to anysuitable distance around, or along, a corresponding surface and/orstructure. More specifically, the circumferential length of a surfaceand/or structure may refer to a perimeter length of a transversecross-section of the surface and/or structure. With this in mind, thecircumferential length also may be referred to herein as a perimeterlength and/or as an edge length.

Examples of inventive subject matter according to the present disclosureare described in the following enumerated paragraphs:

A1. A method of fabricating a matched pair of splice adaptors, themethod comprising:

fabricating a splice adaptor body that includes:

(i) a first mating surface;

(ii) a second mating surface that is (at least substantially) opposed tothe first mating surface, wherein the splice adaptor body extendsbetween the first mating surface and the second mating surface; and

(iii) a plurality of fastener receptacles that extend through the spliceadaptor body between the first mating surface and the second matingsurface; and

separating the splice adaptor body into the matched pair of spliceadaptors, wherein the matched pair of splice adaptors includes a firstsplice adaptor and a second splice adaptor, wherein the first spliceadaptor includes the first mating surface, and further wherein thesecond splice adaptor includes the second mating surface.

A2. The method of paragraph A1, wherein the first splice adaptor isshaped to regulate a first circumferential length of a first jointportion of a first composite skin of a first fuselage barrel section,and further wherein the second splice adaptor is shaped to regulate asecond circumferential length of a second joint portion of a secondcomposite skin of a second fuselage barrel section.

A3. The method of paragraph A2, wherein the first circumferential lengthcorresponds to (or is equal to) the second circumferential length.

A4. The method of any of paragraphs A2-A3, wherein the first fuselagebarrel section and the second fuselage barrel section are configured tobe adjacent one another in a fuselage barrel assembly.

A5. The method of any of paragraphs A2-A4, wherein the first jointportion and the second joint portion are configured to be (directly)operatively attached to one another in a/the fuselage barrel assembly.

A6. The method of any of paragraphs A2-A5, wherein the first jointportion and the second joint portion are configured to abut one anotherin a/the fuselage barrel assembly.

A7. The method of any of paragraphs A1-A6, wherein the first matingsurface extends within a first plane, wherein the second mating surfaceextends within a second plane, and further wherein the first plane is(at least substantially) parallel to the second plane.

A8. The method of any of paragraphs A1-A7, wherein an outer surface ofthe splice adaptor body extends between the first mating surface and thesecond mating surface.

A9. The method of paragraph A8, wherein the outer surface of the spliceadaptor body is (at least substantially) perpendicular to the firstmating surface and to the second mating surface.

A10. The method of any of paragraphs A8-A9, wherein the outer surface ofthe splice adaptor body is shaped to form a surface contour of a/thefuselage barrel assembly.

A11. The method of any of paragraphs A8-A10, wherein a first outersurface of the first splice adaptor and a second outer surface of thesecond splice adaptor are formed from the outer surface of the spliceadaptor body.

A12. The method of any of paragraphs A8-A11, wherein a/the first innercircumferential length of a/the first joint portion of a/the firstcomposite skin of a/the first fuselage barrel section, and a/the secondinner circumferential length of a/the second joint portion of a/thesecond composite skin of a/the second fuselage barrel section both areestablished based upon a circumferential length of the outer surface ofthe splice adaptor body.

A13. The method of any of paragraphs A1-A12, wherein the splice adaptorbody has a maximum characteristic dimension of at least one of:

(i) at least 4 meters (m), at least 4.5 m, at least 5 m, at least 5.5 m,or at least 6 m; and

(ii) less than 8 m, less than 7.5 m, less than 7 m, less than 6.5 m, orless than 6 m.

A14. The method of any of paragraphs A1-A13, wherein the plurality offastener receptacles extend (at least substantially) perpendicular tothe first mating surface and to the second mating surface within thesplice adaptor body.

A15. The method of paragraph A14, wherein each of the plurality offastener receptacles includes a first opening that is formed within thefirst mating surface and a second opening that is formed within thesecond mating surface.

A16. The method of any of paragraphs A1-A15, wherein the fabricating thesplice adaptor body includes fabricating the splice adaptor body from aunitary body that is formed from a plurality of adaptor body segmentsthat is operatively attached to one another.

A17. The method of paragraph A16, wherein the single piece of materialincludes at least one of a metal, an alloy, an iron-nickel alloy, Invar,a composite material, and bismaleimide.

A18. The method of any of paragraphs A1-A17, wherein the splice adaptorbody is a unitary body that is formed from a plurality of adaptor bodysegments that are operatively attached to one another.

A19. The method of any of paragraphs A1-A18, wherein, subsequent to theseparating, the first splice adaptor includes a first separated surface,which is opposed to the first mating surface, and the second spliceadaptor includes a second separated surface, which is opposed to thesecond mating surface.

A20. The method of paragraph A19, wherein the separating includesforming the first separated surface and the second separated surface.

A21. The method of any of paragraphs A19-A20, wherein the separatingincludes separating in a plane of separation that is (at leastsubstantially) parallel to the first mating surface and to the secondmating surface.

A22. The method of any of paragraphs A19-A21, wherein a first outersurface of the first splice adaptor has a first circumferential lengthat an interface between the first outer surface and the first separatedsurface, wherein a second outer surface of the second splice adaptor hasa second circumferential length at an interface between the second outersurface and the second separated surface, and further wherein the firstcircumferential length is (at least substantially) equal to the secondcircumferential length.

B1. A method of assembling a layup tool that is utilized to manufacturea fuselage barrel section of an aircraft, the method comprising:

aligning an adaptor mating surface of a splice adaptor with a mandrelmating surface of an inner mold line layup mandrel (or a layup mandrel),wherein the aligning includes:

(i) rotationally aligning a bottom center line (BCL) reference directionof the splice adaptor and a BCL reference direction of the layup mandrelwith a BCL reference direction of the layup tool; and

(ii) radially aligning an outer surface of the splice adaptor with anouter surface of the layup mandrel along (or proximate) the BCLreference direction of the layup tool;

initially attaching the splice adaptor to the layup mandrel at aninitial attachment point that is located along (or proximal to) the BCLreference direction of the layup tool; and

subsequent to the initially attaching, attaching a lower lobe of thesplice adaptor to a lower lobe of the layup mandrel to form a lower lobeof the layup tool, wherein the attaching the lower lobe includes:

(i) radially aligning the outer surface of the splice adaptor with theouter surface of the layup mandrel proximal each of a plurality of lowerlobe attachment points; and

(ii) attaching the splice adaptor to the layup mandrel at each of theplurality of lower lobe attachment points to retain radial alignmentbetween the outer surface of the splice adaptor and the outer surface ofthe layup mandrel within the lower lobe of the layup tool.

B2. The method of paragraph B1, wherein, subsequent to the attaching thelower lobe of the splice adaptor to the lower lobe of the layup mandrel,the method further includes attaching an upper lobe of the spliceadaptor to an upper lobe of the layup mandrel to form an upper lobe ofthe layup tool.

B3. The method of paragraph B2, wherein the attaching the upper lobeincludes attaching without radially aligning the outer surface of thesplice adaptor to the outer surface of the layup mandrel within theupper lobe.

B4. The method of any of paragraphs B2-B3, wherein the attaching theupper lobe includes attaching at a plurality of upper lobe attachmentpoints.

B5. The method of any of paragraphs B2-B4, wherein the method furtherincludes conforming the outer surface of the layup mandrel to the outersurface of the splice adaptor within the upper lobe.

B6. The method of paragraph B5, wherein the conforming the outer surfaceof the layup mandrel is subsequent to the attaching the upper lobe.

B7. The method of any of paragraphs B5-B6, wherein the conforming theouter surface of the layup mandrel includes radially aligning the outersurface of the layup mandrel with the outer surface of the spliceadaptor.

B8. The method of any of paragraphs B5-B7, wherein the conforming theouter surface of the layup mandrel includes removing a portion of theouter surface of the layup mandrel to conform the outer surface of thelayup mandrel to the outer surface of the splice adaptor.

B9. The method of paragraph B8, wherein the removing includes at leastone of machining, trimming, and grinding.

B10. The method of any of paragraphs B5-B9, wherein the conforming theouter surface of the layup mandrel includes (at least substantially)matching a circumferential length of the layup mandrel to acircumferential length of the splice adaptor at an interfacetherebetween.

B11. The method of any of paragraphs B2-B10, wherein the attaching theupper lobe includes extending a plurality of upper lobe fastenersthrough a plurality of upper lobe fastener receptacles of the spliceadaptor and into the layup mandrel.

B12. The method of any of paragraphs B2-B11, wherein the upper lobe ofthe layup tool includes a portion (and optionally all) of the layup toolthat is located between a passenger floor grid plane of the fuselagebarrel section and a top center line (TCL) of the layup tool.

B13. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B12, wherein the initiallyattaching includes extending an initial fastener through an initialfastener receptacle of the splice adaptor and into the layup mandrel.

B14. The method of paragraph B13, wherein the initial fastenerreceptacle is located along (or proximal) the BCL reference direction ofthe layup tool.

B15. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B14, wherein the attaching thelower lobe of the splice adaptor to the lower lobe of the layup mandrelincludes extending a plurality of lower lobe fasteners through aplurality of lower lobe fastener receptacles of the splice adaptor andinto the layup mandrel.

B16. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B15, wherein the rotationallyaligning includes aligning such that at least one of:

(i) the BCL reference direction of the splice adaptor is (at leastsubstantially) parallel with the BCL reference direction of the layupmandrel;

(ii) the BCL reference direction of the splice adaptor is (at leastsubstantially) parallel with the BCL reference direction of the layuptool; and

(iii) the BCL reference direction of the layup mandrel is (at leastsubstantially) parallel with the BCL reference direction of the layuptool.

B17. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B16, wherein the radiallyaligning includes radially aligning such that the outer surface of thesplice adaptor is matched to the outer surface of the layup mandrel towithin a threshold offset.

B18. The method of paragraph B17, wherein the threshold offset is lessthan 0.5 millimeters (mm), less than 0.4 mm, less than 0.3 mm, less than0.2 mm, less than 0.1 mm, less than 0.05 mm, less than 0.01 mm, or (atleast substantially) 0 mm.

B19. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B18, wherein the radiallyaligning includes translating the splice adaptor and the layup mandrelrelative to one another such that a portion of the outer surface of thesplice adaptor is (at least substantially) collinear with a portion ofthe outer surface of the layup mandrel.

B20. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B19, wherein the plurality oflower lobe attachment points includes at least one of:

(i) at least 2, at least 4, at least 6, or at least 8 lower lobeattachment points;

(ii) fewer than 20, fewer than 18, fewer than 16, fewer than 14, fewerthan 12, or fewer than 10 lower lobe attachment points; and

(iii) an even number of lower lobe attachment points.

B21. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B20, wherein the attaching thelower lobe includes attaching the splice adaptor to the layup mandrel ata given lower lobe attachment point on a given side of the initialattachment point and at a corresponding lower lobe attachment point onan opposite side of the initial attachment point prior to attaching atanother lower lobe attachment point that is farther from the initialattachment point than the given lower lobe attachment point.

B22. The method of paragraph B21, wherein the corresponding lower lobeattachment point and the given lower lobe attachment point are (at leastsubstantially) equidistant from the initial attachment point.

B23. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B22, wherein the attaching thelower lobe includes progressing (at least substantially) symmetricallyabout the initial attachment point and circumferentially around thesplice adaptor from the initial attachment point.

B24. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B23, wherein the attaching thelower lobe includes urging a mismatch between the outer surface of thesplice adaptor and the outer surface of the layup mandrel toward an/theupper lobe of the layup tool.

B25. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B24, wherein the attaching thelower lobe includes conforming the outer surface of the splice adaptorto the outer surface of the layup mandrel.

B26. The method of paragraph B25, wherein the conforming the outersurface of the splice adaptor includes deforming the splice adaptor.

B27. The method of any of paragraphs B25-B26, wherein the conforming theouter surface of the splice adaptor includes deforming the spliceadaptor to match a surface profile of the lower lobe of the spliceadaptor to a surface profile of the lower lobe of the layup mandrel.

B28. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B27, wherein the lower lobe ofthe layup tool includes a portion of the layup tool that is locatedbetween a/the passenger floor grid of the fuselage barrel section and aBCL of the layup tool.

B29. The method of any of paragraphs B1-B28, wherein the method furtherincludes providing the splice adaptor.

B30. The method of paragraph B29, wherein the providing includesperforming the method of any of paragraphs A1-A22.

C1. A method of forming a fuselage barrel section of an aircraft, themethod comprising:

forming a composite skin of the fuselage barrel section on a layup tool;

separating the layup tool from the composite skin;

locating a frame assembly within an inner volume that is formed by thecomposite skin; and

operatively attaching the frame assembly to the composite skin to formthe fuselage barrel section.

C2. The method of paragraph C1, wherein, prior to the forming, themethod further includes assembling the layup tool utilizing the methodof any of paragraphs B1-B30.

C3. The method of any of paragraphs C1-C2, wherein the layup tool is thelayup tool of paragraph E1.

C4. The method of any of paragraphs C1-C3, wherein the layup tool isformed utilizing the method of any of paragraphs B1-B30.

D1. A method of forming a fuselage barrel assembly of an aircraft, themethod comprising:

providing a first fuselage barrel section that includes a first jointportion, wherein the first joint portion has a first interior jointsurface that has a first inner circumferential length;

providing a second fuselage barrel section that includes a second jointportion, wherein the second joint portion has a second interior jointsurface that has a second inner circumferential length;

providing a splice ring that has a splice ring outer surface that has asplice ring outer circumferential length;

operatively aligning the first fuselage barrel section and the secondfuselage barrel section such that the first joint portion faces towardthe second joint portion;

locating the splice ring within both the first joint portion and thesecond joint portion while translating the first fuselage barrel sectionand the second fuselage barrel section toward one another; and

operatively attaching the first fuselage barrel section and the secondfuselage barrel section to the splice ring.

D2. The method of paragraph D1, wherein no shim extends between thefirst fuselage barrel section and the splice ring, and further whereinno shim extends between the second fuselage barrel section and thesplice ring.

D3. The method of any of paragraphs D1-D2, wherein the first innercircumferential length and the second inner circumferential length, andoptionally the splice ring outer circumferential length, differ by lessthan a threshold circumferential length difference.

D4. The method of any of paragraphs D1-D3, wherein the thresholdcircumferential length difference is less than 4 millimeters (mm), lessthan 3.5 mm, less than 3 mm, less than 2.5 mm, less than 2 mm, less than1.5 mm, less than 1 mm, less than 0.5 mm, less than 0.25 mm, or lessthan 0.1 mm.

D5. The method of any of paragraphs D1-D4, wherein the first innercircumferential length, the second inner circumferential length, and thesplice ring outer circumferential length all are within a thresholdcircumferential length range.

D6. The method of paragraph D5, wherein the threshold circumferentiallength range is at least one of:

(i) at least 15 meters (m), at least 15.5 m, at least 16 m, at least16.5 m, at least 17 m, at least 17.5 m, or at least 18 m; and

(ii) less than 21 m, less than 20.5 m, less than 20 m, less than 19.5 m,less than 19 m, less than 18.5 m, or less than 18 m.

D7. The method of any of paragraphs D1-D6, wherein the providing thefirst fuselage barrel section includes performing the method of any ofparagraphs C1-C4.

D8. The method of any of paragraphs D1-D7, wherein the providing thesecond fuselage barrel section includes performing the method of any ofparagraphs C1-C4.

D9. The method of any of paragraphs D1-D8, wherein the operativelyattaching includes:

(i) initially operatively attaching at a pair of initial attachmentpoints that are located along (or proximal) a bottom center line (BCL)reference direction of the fuselage barrel assembly; and

(ii) subsequently operatively attaching at a plurality of pairs ofsubsequent attachment points by operatively attaching at a given pair ofsubsequent attachment points on a given side of the pair of initialattachment points and at a corresponding pair of subsequent attachmentpoints on an opposite side of the pair of initial attachment pointsprior to attaching at another pair of subsequent attachment points thatis farther from the pair of initial attachment points than the givenpair of subsequent attachment points.

D10. The method of any of paragraphs D1-D9, wherein the operativelyattaching includes operatively attaching at a pair of initial attachmentpoints and progressing (at least substantially) symmetrically about thepair of initial attachment points and circumferentially around thefuselage barrel assembly from the pair of initial attachment points.

E1. A layup tool for forming a composite skin of a fuselage barrelsection of an aircraft, the layup tool comprising:

a splice adaptor that has an adaptor mating surface; and

a layup mandrel that has a mandrel mating surface; wherein:

(i) the adaptor mating surface is facing (or is configured to face) themandrel mating surface;

(ii) the splice adaptor is operatively attached to (or is configured tobe operatively attached to) the layup mandrel;

(iii) the splice adaptor is deformed (or is configured to deform) suchthat a lower outer surface of the splice adaptor that is present withina lower lobe of the splice adaptor is (or may be) radially aligned witha lower outer surface of the layup mandrel that is present within alower lobe of the layup mandrel; and

(iv) an upper outer surface of the layup mandrel that is present withinan upper lobe of the layup mandrel is shaped (or configured) to conformto an upper outer surface of the splice adaptor that is present withinan upper lobe of the splice adaptor.

F1. The use of the layup tool of paragraph E1 to fabricate a fuselagebarrel assembly.

F2. The use of any of the methods of any of paragraphs A1-D10 tofabricate a fuselage barrel assembly.

F3. The use of any of the methods of any of paragraphs A1-D10 with thelayup tool of paragraph E1.

F4. The use of the layup tool of paragraph E1 with any of the methods ofany of paragraphs A1-D10.

As used herein, the terms “selective” and “selectively,” when modifyingan action, movement, configuration, or other activity of one or morecomponents or characteristics of an apparatus, mean that the specificaction, movement, configuration, or other activity is a direct orindirect result of user manipulation of an aspect of, or one or morecomponents of, the apparatus.

As used herein, the terms “adapted” and “configured” mean that theelement, component, or other subject matter is designed and/or intendedto perform a given function. Thus, the use of the terms “adapted” and“configured” should not be construed to mean that a given element,component, or other subject matter is simply “capable of” performing agiven function but that the element, component, and/or other subjectmatter is specifically selected, created, implemented, utilized,programmed, and/or designed for the purpose of performing the function.It is also within the scope of the present disclosure that elements,components, and/or other recited subject matter that is recited as beingadapted to perform a particular function may additionally oralternatively be described as being configured to perform that function,and vice versa. Similarly, subject matter that is recited as beingconfigured to perform a particular function may additionally oralternatively be described as being operative to perform that function.

As used herein, the phrase, “for example,” the phrase, “as an example,”and/or simply the term “example,” when used with reference to one ormore components, features, details, structures, embodiments, and/ormethods according to the present disclosure, are intended to convey thatthe described component, feature, detail, structure, embodiment, and/ormethod is an illustrative, non-exclusive example of components,features, details, structures, embodiments, and/or methods according tothe present disclosure. Thus, the described component, feature, detail,structure, embodiment, and/or method is not intended to be limiting,required, or exclusive/exhaustive; and other components, features,details, structures, embodiments, and/or methods, including structurallyand/or functionally similar and/or equivalent components, features,details, structures, embodiments, and/or methods, are also within thescope of embodiments of the present disclosure.

The various disclosed elements of apparatuses and steps of methodsdisclosed herein are not required to all apparatuses and methodsaccording to the present disclosure, and the present disclosure includesall novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of thevarious elements and steps disclosed herein. Moreover, one or more ofthe various elements and steps disclosed herein may define independentinventive subject matter that is separate and apart from the whole of adisclosed apparatus or method. Accordingly, such inventive subjectmatter is not required to be associated with the specific apparatusesand methods that are expressly disclosed herein, and such inventivesubject matter may find utility in apparatuses and/or methods that arenot expressly disclosed herein.

1. A method of forming a fuselage barrel assembly of an aircraft, themethod comprising: providing a first fuselage barrel section thatincludes a first joint portion, wherein the first joint portion has afirst interior joint surface that has a first inner circumferentiallength; providing a second fuselage barrel section that includes asecond joint portion, wherein the second joint portion has a secondinterior joint surface that has a second inner circumferential length;providing a splice ring that has a splice ring outer surface that has asplice ring outer circumferential length; operatively aligning the firstfuselage barrel section and the second fuselage barrel section such thatthe first joint portion faces toward the second joint portion; locatingthe splice ring within both the first joint portion and the second jointportion while translating the first fuselage barrel section and thesecond fuselage barrel section toward one another; and operativelyattaching the first fuselage barrel section and the second fuselagebarrel section to the splice ring, wherein the operatively attachingincludes: (i) initially operatively attaching the first fuselage barrelsection and the second fuselage barrel section at a pair of initialattachment points that is proximate a bottom center line referencedirection of the fuselage barrel assembly; and (ii) subsequentlyoperatively attaching the first fuselage barrel section and the secondfuselage barrel section at a plurality of pairs of subsequent attachmentpoints by operatively attaching at a given pair of subsequent attachmentpoints on a given side of the pair of initial attachment points and at acorresponding pair of subsequent attachment points on an opposite sideof the pair of initial attachment points prior to attaching at anotherpair of subsequent attachments points that is farther from the pair ofinitial attachment points than the given pair of subsequent attachmentpoints.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein no shim extends between thefirst fuselage barrel section and the splice ring, and further whereinno shim extends between the second fuselage barrel section and thesplice ring.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first innercircumferential length and the second inner circumferential lengthdiffer by a threshold circumferential length difference of less than 4millimeters.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first innercircumferential length, the second inner circumferential length, and thesplice ring outer circumferential length all are within a thresholdcircumferential length range of at least 15 meters and at most 21meters.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing the firstfuselage barrel section includes: forming a composite skin of the firstfuselage barrel section on a layup tool; separating the layup tool fromthe composite skin; locating a frame assembly within an inner volumethat is formed by the composite skin; and operatively attaching theframe assembly to the composite skin to form the first fuselage barrelsection.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the subsequently operativelyattaching at the plurality of pairs of subsequent attachment pointsincludes progressing at least substantially symmetrically about the pairof initial attachment points and circumferentially around the fuselagebarrel assembly from the pair of initial attachment points.
 7. A layuptool for forming a composite skin of a fuselage barrel section of anaircraft, the layup tool comprising: a splice adaptor that has anadaptor mating surface; and a layup mandrel that has a mandrel matingsurface; wherein: (i) the adaptor mating surface is facing the mandrelmating surface; (ii) the splice adaptor is operatively attached to thelayup mandrel; (iii) the splice adaptor is deformed such that a portionof an outer surface of the splice adaptor that is present within a lowerlobe of the splice adaptor is radially aligned with a portion of anouter surface of the layup mandrel that is present within a lower lobeof the layup mandrel to within a threshold offset of less than 0.5 mmalong a bottom center line reference direction of the layup tool; and(iv) a portion of the outer surface of the layup mandrel that is presentwithin an upper lobe of the layup mandrel, is shaped to conform to aportion of an upper outer surface of the splice adaptor that is presentwithin an upper lobe of the splice adaptor.
 8. A method of assembling alayup tool that is utilized to manufacture a fuselage barrel section ofan aircraft, the method comprising: aligning an adaptor mating surfaceof a splice adaptor with a mandrel mating surface of a layup mandrel,wherein the aligning includes: (i) rotationally aligning a bottom centerline (BCL) reference direction of the splice adaptor and a BCL referencedirection of the layup mandrel with a BCL reference direction of thelayup tool; and (ii) radially aligning an outer surface of the spliceadaptor with an outer surface of the layup mandrel along the BCLreference direction of the layup tool; initially attaching the spliceadaptor to the layup mandrel at an initial attachment point that islocated along the BCL reference direction of the layup tool; andsubsequent to the initially attaching, attaching a lower lobe of thesplice adaptor to a lower lobe of the layup mandrel to form a lower lobeof the layup tool, wherein the attaching the lower lobe includes: (i)radially aligning the outer surface of the splice adaptor with the outersurface of the layup mandrel proximal each of a plurality of lower lobeattachment points; and (ii) attaching the splice adaptor to the layupmandrel at each of the plurality of lower lobe attachment points toretain radial alignment between the outer surface of the splice adaptorand the outer surface of the layup mandrel within the lower lobe of thelayup tool.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein, subsequent to theattaching the lower lobe of the splice adaptor to the lower lobe of thelayup mandrel, the method further includes attaching an upper lobe ofthe splice adaptor to an upper lobe of the layup mandrel to form anupper lobe of the layup tool.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein theattaching the upper lobe of the splice adaptor to the upper lobe of thelayup mandrel includes attaching without radially aligning the outersurface of the splice adaptor to the outer surface of the layup mandrelwithin the upper lobe.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the attachingthe upper lobe of the splice adaptor to the upper lobe of the layupmandrel includes attaching at a plurality of upper lobe attachmentpoints.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further includesconforming the outer surface of the layup mandrel to the outer surfaceof the splice adaptor within the upper lobe of the splice adaptor,wherein the conforming the outer surface of the layup mandrel issubsequent to the attaching the upper lobe of the splice adaptor to theupper lobe of the layup mandrel, and further wherein the conforming theouter surface of the layup mandrel includes removing a portion of theouter surface of the layup mandrel to conform the outer surface of thelayup mandrel to the outer surface of the splice adaptor.
 13. The methodof claim 12, wherein the removing includes at least one of machining,trimming, and grinding.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein theconforming the outer surface of the layup mandrel includes matching acircumferential length of the layup mandrel to a circumferential lengthof the splice adaptor at an interface therebetween.
 15. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the attaching the upper lobe of the splice adaptor tothe upper lobe of the layup mandrel includes extending a plurality ofupper lobe fasteners through a plurality of upper lobe fastenerreceptacles of the splice adaptor and into the layup mandrel.
 16. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the rotationally aligning includes aligningsuch that at least one of: (i) the BCL reference direction of the spliceadaptor is at least substantially parallel with the BCL referencedirection of the layup mandrel; (ii) the BCL reference direction of thesplice adaptor is at least substantially parallel with the BCL referencedirection of the layup tool; and (iii) the BCL reference direction ofthe layup mandrel is at least substantially parallel with the BCLreference direction of the layup tool.
 17. The method of claim 8,wherein the radially aligning includes radially aligning such that theouter surface of the splice adaptor is matched to the outer surface ofthe layup mandrel to within a threshold offset of less than 0.5millimeters.
 18. The method of claim 8, wherein the attaching the lowerlobe of the splice adaptor to the lower lobe of the layup mandrelincludes attaching the splice adaptor to the layup mandrel at a givenlower lobe attachment point on a given side of the initial attachmentpoint and at a corresponding lower lobe attachment point on an oppositeside of the initial attachment point prior to attaching at another lowerlobe attachment point that is farther from the initial attachment pointthan the given lower lobe attachment point.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein the corresponding lower lobe attachment point and the givenlower lobe attachment point are at least substantially equidistant fromthe initial attachment point.
 20. The method of claim 8, wherein theattaching the lower lobe of the splice adaptor to the lower lobe of thelayup mandrel includes conforming the outer surface of the spliceadaptor to the outer surface of the layup mandrel, wherein theconforming the outer surface of the splice adaptor includes deformingthe splice adaptor to match a surface profile of the lower lobe of thesplice adaptor to a surface profile of the lower lobe of the layupmandrel.